


Abandoned Santuary

by Evalyne, JanecShannon



Series: Abandoned Sanctuary [9]
Category: Dragon Age: Origins, Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: F/M, Literature, fan fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-08
Updated: 2011-03-23
Packaged: 2018-02-08 00:59:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1920705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evalyne/pseuds/Evalyne, https://archiveofourown.org/users/JanecShannon/pseuds/JanecShannon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The heroes of Ferelden take up their blades alongside a cast-aside heroine from Eorezea</p>
            </blockquote>





	Abandoned Santuary

Title: Abandoned Sanctuary  
Author: Evalyne  
Game: Dragon Age  
Characters/pairing: F!Cousland/Alistair & Zevran/ F!OC  
Disclaimer: Characters from Dragon Age belong to  Bioware. I do not profit from this in any way shape or form. Refferences from FFXIV are owned by Square Enix.  
Chapter: A Stranger in a Strange Land.

 

I will journey to the place, that was shaped by heaven's hand.  
And I will build for me a bower, where angles' footprints mark the land.  
Where castle rock in towers high, kneel to valley's wide and green.  
All my thoughts are turned to you, my waking hope, my sleeping dream.  
~I am Going to the West  
-Connie Dover

Alistair sighed heavily as the guards from Redcliffe shut the castle gate behind them with a bang. His fellow Warden—Laurena—, Wynne, Leliana and himself had just successfully cured Arl Eamon's sickness by using Andraste's ashes. Eamon had offered them a place to stay for the night, looking to repay them in some small way for his revival, but Laurena had kindly refused, opting to return to camp where their other companions awaited their return.</p>

"I don't see why we couldn't have just stayed one night and slept in a real bed for once. Eamon looked disappointed when you turned him down," Alistair said absently. He turned to look back at the castle with a sort of longing as they past the border of the village portion of Redcliffe.

"A soft bed and a roof over our heads would be a nice change but it would not be fair to the rest of our group. I can't peacefully sleep in a well protected castle while they sleep on the ground in the wilderness," Laurena said and turned her sky blue eyes away from the road ahead of them towards Alistair. His breath hitched when her warm gaze met his and he stopped walking.

"It would be very rude of us to keep the rest of our companions waiting," Leliana unintentionally interrupted the quiet moment between the two Wardens and turned their attention to the red-haired bard. The bard in question smiled when she noticed the blush creep across their cheeks, she chose not to say anything. "We do have the supplies to give to them that Arl Eamon gave us," Leliana shifted the heavy pack on her shoulders for emphasis.

"We all are weary, my dear boy, but the Warden is right; it would not be very fair," Wynne spoke softly gave Alistair a motherly kind of smile.

"We'll stay a few days extra at camp to recover our strength but then we need to get on the road again, this Blight won't be going anywhere," Laurena turned to the members in her group. "Is that agreeable?" The female Warden watched as her companions each nodded in turn and then resumed her place at the front of the group to lead them back to camp.

The walk back towards the camp was a cheerful one with the sun shining softly down upon them from between the canopy of trees. It was warm out but not over bearingly so because of a gentle breeze that rolled off Lake Calenhad to the west of them. Laurena smiled, listening to Leliana and Alistair banter one another about the Chantry.

"I would tell them that I was just checking. You never know, right?" Alistair said laughing at one of his fond memories at the monastery.

Leliana made a face that to anyone who looked at her would think she had just bitten into a lemon. "I... no, I never…" Leliana stopped mid-sentence and her face suddenly became very serious as she took out her bow and notched an arrow. "Did you hear that?"

"Sounded like talking," Laurena said with her naked great sword at her side. "It sounds like it is coming from over that ridge." She saw movement to her left. Alistair took up position at her side with his sword and shield at the ready, his back was almost touching her left side.

"Another ambush?" His voice was barely above a whisper, Laurena could feel his warm breath tickling her neck when he had turned to speak to her quietly. She shivered then shook her head to regain her focus.

The group approached the ridge with caution and positioned themselves to be hidden in the shadows of the canopy of leaves above them, the leaves that had cooled their path earlier now became perfect camouflage. Alistair and Laurena were crouched together low on a part of a boulder, they were in the best position to be able to quickly get down the ridge. Leliana was leaning against a large oak, barley moving she look a peek down at the small clearing below them before moving back into her original position. She nodded sharply to the two Wardens across from her then motioned with another quick jerk towards the clearing. What they saw, once they were in attack position, was a group of six men—all of them carrying swords around their waists with some having chains dangling from their hands—surrounding a lone cloaked figure. The figure wore a tattered tan cloak that was splattered with mud from travel. Not much of the figure's features could be seen from the companions' vantage point and the cloaked figure's face was cast in shadow by the hood she wore.

"What do you make of it, Leliana?" Laurena hugged the boulder tight against her body as she positioned herself to better speak with her fellow companions.

"If I had to guess, slave traders or guards. No one else would carry chains used to bind a person with," Leliana said after a moment's observation.

"They don't look like Loghain's guards," Alistair observed from the other side of the boulder.

"What are we to do, Warden?" Wynne stated from the far side of the oak tree she was using for cover.

"Observe for now," Laurena's voice was flat. "If they make a move for the one in the middle we'll flank them. I don't want to see anyone get dragged off to be a slave but we have got to be cautious about this."

"They pay handsome bounty for someone as unusual as you, girl," the head slave trader reached and gripped the feminine-looking chin of the cloaked stranger with a sudden jerk. The hood fell back to reveal auburn tresses flowing out from beneath a wrap that cover the top portion of the cloaked woman's head. The slaver ran his grim-covered thumb over the woman's pale cheek and started at her leeringly. "Maybe I should make you learn your place first, mm?" The woman just started up at him—she came only to about his shoulder height—her emerald eyes showing no emotion.

"I'd hate to be disappoint my future buyer," the woman's voice held a thick accent.

The man scoffed and removed his hand from her chin then walked back towards his men. "Make sure you get her feet this time too. I don't want her killing any more of my guards so make sure she doesn't escape this time." Two men with chains nodded to their leader then made their way towards the woman. Laurena watched intently, she raised her hand in signal to the others to prepare to attack.

"You didn't let me finish, boyyo." The woman's voice rang over the field. "I _said_ that I'd hate to disappoint my future buyer… but I'm not coming with you."

The woman pulled on the chains of the man closest to her, throwing him off balance and forcing his stomach to hit her raised knee. He had no time to recover from the wind being forced out of his lungs by the sudden impact before the cloaked woman had reached up and twisted his neck. There was a sickening crack and the man fell to the ground, dead.

"Sod the reward, kill the girl!" the leader of the slavers yelled out to his men and ducked behind their wagon.

Laurena wasted no time. She lowered her hand in signal to the others to attack and ran down into the valley, Alistair at her heels. The men looked up at Lauren's war cry with wide eyes. Some of the men took out bows while others went after the easier looking target of the unarmed, cloaked woman. Leliana took out one of the armed men that went after the other woman, hitting him through the neck and letting him bleed out. The cloaked woman had taken one of the guard's side daggers and plunged his own weapon into his chest before moving out of the way of a blow from another guard. Laurena charged at the guard, who just missed the cloaked woman, and was able to take off his head with one powerful blow. Laurena watched the cloaked woman nod sharply then dash over to where the leader was hiding behind the wagon.

"Watch out!" Alistair yelled over to his fellow Grey Warden, Laurena looked behind her as an injured guard was making his way to her, sword in hand. The other Warden had just stabbed another guard through the chest but when she tried to remove her sword to defend herself she found it stuck. All Laurena could do was to try and free her blade but the injured guard kept getting closer to her. She closed her eyes waiting for the blow that she knew would come. There was a large crash as Alistair hit the injured man with his shield then finished the job with a quick thrust to the chest.

"Thank you."

"Anytime," Alistair smiled softly at Laurena.

"Not to interrupt but we might want to follow that girl. She went after the leader, I saw her follow him deeper into the forest," Leliana said reaching out hand to help Laurena up.

"Right, follow me," Laurena put her long sword into its sheath hanging on her back.

They rounded the bend and felt the earth beneath their feet start to tremble. Laurena and Alistair exchanged looks and started to run faster, afraid of something they could not name. Trees flew past them, most in pieces, one slashed here another one broken over there. The treeline broke and the companions entered what looked like to be a battle field. The cloaked woman was doing her best to avoid the leader's attacks—side step, duck, jump back, roll—but she wasn't able to get a hit of her own in, her inability to block was making it difficult.

"Lel, she is unarmed help her!" Laurena shouted back to the bard. Laurena and Alistair wouldn't be able to get to woman quick enough, Leliana would at least be able to slow the armed man down. The rogue notched an arrow and, with a small prayer on her lips, let the arrow fly.

Time seemed to slow down as the arrow whistled in the air towards the slaver's head and the intended victim turned to see his intended doom soar at him. The auburn haired woman did something that Laurena thought was impulsive and stupid; she kicked the slaver in his leg, causing him to stumble and consequently miss being hit by the arrow. As the man tried to regain his balance, the auburn haired woman twisted the slavers blade out of his hand and kept turning his wrist until the man was on his knees with his armed twisted behind him. The woman then bent down towards the man's head and spoke to him. Laurena couldn't make out what either of them were saying, she could see their mouths moving, but the distance between them was too great. The conversation ended abruptly and the man's arm was released, his would be captive reached down, picked up his blade, and ran it through his chest. The deceased man hit the ground with a thump and the woman spat on him, she then turned her attention towards the group of companions.

The woman's eyes examined each person, analyzing them thoroughly before moving on to the next, Laurena was finally able to take in the woman's appearance as well. The hood on her ragged cloak was thrown back and her auburn tresses, nearly the color of blood Laurena noted, hung under a black wrap that covered the top of her head. From what could be seen from under the cloak, the woman's blouse and trousers were loose and worn, the boots made of black leather with the ends of her trousers tucked into them.

"Whose name might I'd be usin' to thank for the assistance in handlin' those brutes?" The woman looked directly at Laurena, who walked closer to the questioning woman. When the other woman took a defensive step back Laurena stopped and smiled.

"I am Laurena Cousland, of the Grey Wardens but I originally hail from Highever. This is Alistair, Leliana and Wynne." Laurena indicated each one. "Who might you be?"

"A Warden?" The woman looked at Laurena thoughtfully. "Aslinn of the Seekers of the Sun Tribe, of Eoreza." Aslinn gave an odd sort of salute that ended in a bow. "May I ask, how you came across this caravan?"

"We were on our way back to camp actually," Alistair answered.

"Are you injured, child? There is blood dripping from your hands," Wynne took a step towards the younger woman, but Aslinn took too step back grabbing her hands and holding them to her chest. It was obvious she was wounded but didn't want to be touched.

"Theyre be fine," she said defensively. "I just be need to wrap them," Aslinn looked at the woods to her left as if plotting to make a run for it.

"It's alright, Wynne is a Tower Mage. A healer," Leliana said soothingly, approaching Aslinn as she would a wounded animal. Hesitantly Aslinn allowed the others to approach her. When they got close enough Wynn tentatively took Aslinn's hands to examine the damage. "Why your eyes, they are so unusual. Very pretty shade of green, like emeralds and the shape of your pupil remind me of a wild animal's eyes." Leliana commented gleefully.

"They're not that unusual, all Seekers of the Sun's eyes are like this," Aslinn flinched when Wynn touched a tender area on her hand.

"Child, why are their shards of wood in your hands?" Wynne began to, as tenderly as she could, remove the larger pieces.

"That bloody bastard moved faster than I'd anticipated and some trees took the brunt of the impact."

"Why would you try and fist fight an armored man?" Alistair asked shocked at the news.

"I'm a Pugilist, that's what we do." She said matter-of-factly. "My hands wouldn't be so busted up if he hadn't taken my gloves." Aslinn took a quick intake of breath, when Wynne had to get a particularly deep piece of wood out.

"Pugilist, I've never heard of it before. Have you?" Laurena turned to Alistair in question and he shook his head negative." Aslinn, I find myself in need of good fighters, would you be willing to help us in our quest to end the Blight?"

"Quest, eh?" She smiled showing the tips of her sharp canines. "Count me in, Warden, but first I need to recover my belongings from the caravan."

"Of course and welcome." Laurena smiled back, she and Alistair headed back in the direction of the caravan with the three remaining members trailing behind.

"Thank thee, old one, it feels much better now," Aslinn moved her fingers testing the soreness after Wynne's healing magic.

"You're welcome and it's Wynne, not old one."

"I meant no offensive. There be the wagon," Aslinn walked past Laurena and Alistair to a wagon left by the traders. She pulled out a worn knapsack, a pair of unusual looking gloves, a purse full of coins, and leather bracers. She hastily put on the leather bracers and gloves while the others in the group pilfered the corpses looking for anything worth keeping or selling.

"Let's head back, shall we?" Laurena spoke and turned back towards the road, Alistair followed close behind.

Luckily the rest of the trip back to camp was uneventful and the group arrived just before sundown.

"We were beginning to worry if the ground had opened up and swallowed you," Morrigan got up from the place by the fire to greet them. "I see you have brought another stray into our group. Are we to pick up every miserable creature long to way to join in our fight?"

"Nice to see you too Morrigan," Laurena looked around the camp briefly. "Where are the others?"

"Hunting. Food supplies were running low and we did not know when you would return." The Wilder Witch looked over Aslinn briefly then returned back to her own fire. Laurena and Wynne set down their supplies, Wynne retreated into her tent and Laurena stroked the fire Morrigan had abandoned.

"I suppose a nice welcome would be too much for her?" Alistair voice was thick with sarcasm.

"You'd suppose, right," Laurena smiled up at Alistair. "You're on dinner duty tonight."

"What me? Can't get enough of my tasteless gruel can you? I suppose it better than Sten's half-cooked rabbit."

"Your meals are fit for a king since it's the soon-to-be King of Ferelden making them," Laurena giggled and took a seat by the fire.

"Hey now, don't start that again," Alistair whined as he took out the cooking pot.

"Beg me pardon, Warden," Aslinn was standing in the same spot she was when they entered the camp. "What do you want me to do?"

Laurena looked back to the smaller woman standing by the entrance to camp. She looked near exhaustion. Her hair hung limply from underneath the wrap, her green eyes looked dull, and her clothes were splattered with mud and gore. Laurena realized at that moment they didn't have an extra tent for her to use. "I want you to rest but I don't have an extra tent for you to use, I'm sorry."

"Take no offense but I'd prefer not to sleep on the ground," Aslinn looked around the camp quickly. Her eyes seemed to gleam slightly in the firelight.

"I can offer you a bedroll," Laurena suggested.

"No, that's alright I think I've found a suitable place," Aslinn walked to the left of the pond towards a large tree, she bent down for leverage then gracefully jumped onto a tree branch. She perched on the branch for a moment before moving closer to its trunk, she pulled her hood up and wrapped her cloak tightly around her. There she positioned herself as not to fall then closed her eyes.

"She can't be possible be thinking of sleeping in that tree, can she?" Alistair gaped wide-mouth at the acrobatic performance he'd just witnessed.

"Maybe she feels safer up there; we did just rescue her from men that did who knows what to her," Laurena pondered.

"Do you think she is Chasind or maybe Dallish? Since she looks to be an elf and she has that funny accent too boot," he speculated.

"I don't know. Let's just her be for now and let her get some rest," Laurena turned to him and smiled. "Come on now where is my royal meal?" She giggled at Alistair's loud groan.

**Author's Note:**

> The heroes of Ferelden take up their blades alongside a cast-aside heroine from Eorezea
> 
> My first DA fanfiction reposted here.
> 
> Alistair/Cousland & Zevran/OC
> 
> Thank you again to my wonderful Beta of all time, Janec Shannon! Please check out her Story "Stars"! Thank you to all my fellow fans of Dragon Age
> 
> I also want to thank Bioware and EA Games for making Dragon Age and Square Enix for the Final Fantasy Games. This will be a mostly DA fic with a splash of the FF world.
> 
>  
> 
> First:   
> Next: 
> 
> 07/08/14: Updated Aslinn's Dialogue 


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